If the term ‘high tea’ calls up images of limp little cucumber sandwiches and orthopaedic stockings, you’re not alone. What was once quite the glittering affair with silverware and silky gloves throughout the British Empire in the 1800s, has since been watered down to an ouma-friendly outing by some less-than-imaginative hotels the world over. No more! The hot-beverage masterminds behind Truth Coffee Roasting in Cape Town has decided to change all that.

“We created our high tea experiences to be something out of the ordinary,” says Ross Hyland, one of the marketing minds on the Truth team. “A truly exceptional high tea is something that you shouldn’t be able to experience at home. At Truth, we combine the traditional tea with world class petit fours and the best of coffee. It’s a way for us to showcase our french pastry chef, Kamal’s creative flair and provide him with a platform to really shine.”

The Kamal in question is très talented fine pastry chef Kamel Hamzaoui, a French native who started his apprenticeship under the master of the croissant, Monsieur Chapeau, when he was only 16. That’s basically the equivalent of interning with Karl Lagerfeld if you’re a seamstress (aka, helluva impressive). Since then he has plied his sugary trade in no less than three Michelin-awarded restaurants the world over, did a spot of modelling (just to put the proverbial cherry on top), and then proceeded to fall head over heels for a South African girl and made his way to our sunny shores to show us a thing or two about confectionary.

So, what exactly can you expect at High Tea at Truth? The first course is an Amuse-bouche of petit fours created with the purpose of perfectly complimenting a crisp, cold glass of Pol Roger Brut Reserve – a gorgeous vintage from the French Champagne house that was named Appointment to His Majesty the King purveyor of Champagne to the Royal family in 1911 and remains so to this day.

Next up is the Café Course paired with unlimited (and we do mean you can pretty much sample the entire menu without raising an eyebrow) Truth coffees and Nigiro teas from the menu. This time around, the petit fours will include sweet and savoury options that challenge the notion of traditional high tea fare – think choux with chocolate and caramel, blue cheese canapés with kudu carpaccio and red pesto, and vegetarian options that turn the humble aubergine into something to write home about.

The last course, Le Grande Révélation, places the spotlight on Kamal’s sought-after croissants, with lashings of French camembert and prosciutto in supporting roles. Oh, and just when you think you’re ready to roll on home, there is a surprise reveal handcrafted by Kamal using the Pol Roger Champagne.

BONUS FUN FACTS to whip out when you’re at high tea to impress your friends:
– The term ‘petit fours’ literally means ‘small oven’. Ovens in the 1800s weren’t very evolved. French bakers basically had two settings in these stone cabinets with a fire beneath it – ‘grand four’ (big oven, i.e. blazing hot), or ‘petit four’ (small oven, i.e. latent heat) with just enough heat to bake a small cake.
-Winston Churchill drank his first glass of Pol Roger Champagne in 1908 and then went on to become one of the brand’s most prominent ambassadors after he met the stunning Odette Pol-Roger at a jol at the British Embassy in Paris in 1944. From then until his passing in 1965, Churchill was known to travel the world over with at least one case of his favourite vintage, the Pol Roger 1928.